How to Use the LEFT Function in Excel (Extract Text from the Start)

How to Use the LEFT Function in Excel (Extract Text from the Start)

The LEFT() function is useful for extracting a specific number of characters from the beginning (left side) of a text string.

📘 Syntax:

=LEFT(text, num_chars)

✅ Example:

=LEFT("MUMBAI123", 6)

This returns "MUMBAI", the first 6 characters from the text.

🎯 Use Cases:

• Extract city codes or state prefixes
• Filter out name initials
• Use in categorizing file or document names

💡 Bonus Tip:

Combine with FIND() or SEARCH() to make dynamic extractions.

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